Bag of Randomness for Friday, May 29, 2015

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  • Buzzfeed posted an article yesterday about the history of children accidentally locking themselves in refrigerators and NEVER mentioned the ‘Punky Brewster’ episode that’s now a part of pop-culture history.  Who the hell is editing their stories?!?! If there are two sitcom episodes every child of the Eighties remembers, it’s that one and the ‘Diff’rent Strokes’ episode with the child molesting bicycle shop owner.  A good friend wanted to include the ‘Facts of Life’ episode of Natalie getting raped, but I don’t even remember that one.
  • Since I just referenced child molestation, let’s talk a bit more about The Village Church and their missionary that has a child porn addiction and his wife who they tried to formally discipline because she sought an annulment:
    • Thankfully the church has formally apologized to the woman, and also stated this publically in a lengthy message.  In an email to their members, they sound very sincere, humble, and reflective.  This is a big deal because you don’t typically see churches, especially large conservative ones, back down on any of their actions. They tend to stand firm, so kudos to them.  I’m not a big fan of them saying they should have communicated better to her that an annulment is considered a divorce by biblical standards, but overall they did right.  They are also going to grant her request to be released from membership (crazy that wasn’t easily done in the first place) and financially support her, as they previously committed, through August.
    • This incident reminds me of when Jesus healed on the Sabbath and the Pharisees were confused if the act violated religious law.  Jesus is like, “Hey, we know what the law says, but come on, this man needs help – use some common sense people.”  Likewise, I understand how the church may view an annulment as a divorce and as sin defined in the Bible, but come on, this man is/was addicted to child porn, give this woman a mulligan.  I know many will disagree with my interpretation and see it as a slippery slope to skirt around biblical rules, but that’s how I see it.
    • The church mentions media attention, I think it’s only because of this they started to cave and feel conviction.  The perception being cast was they were more focused on protecting their pastor and his marriage than the safety and protection of  children that had direct contact with the pastor.  But oddly, I haven’t seen any local news outlets cover this story, it’s only been making waves on Facebook, blogs, and Twitter.
    • They state their head pastor will “speak generally” about this on Sunday and stay on topic of the sermon series.  Personally, I think it deserves more than a general mention.  I recognize that an email was sent out so it’s now all in the past and it’s time to move on, but not having your head pastor address such a misfortunate event, especially when the safety and protection of their children is questioned, is skirting leadership.
    • I haven’t seen any mention of the missionary being talked to by police.  I’m no expert on the law, but if he has willfully admitted to owning child pornography and this information has gone public, I’d think that would be probable cause to do a search.
    • Thankfully, this is a huge step in the right direction.
  • The TICKET morning show had the parents of the late Taylor Torch on as guests to promote the charity they started in her honor to promote organ donation.  As great of a gesture that is to honor their daughter, it has always bothered me that the father is the lone employee and takes in six figures – Taylor’s Gift took in $163,000 in 2011, its first full year of operations. Todd Storch, the charity’s CEO, was paid a salary of $100,000, plus $8,500 in expenses.
  • A Christian rap song that supports Senator Ted Cruz.
  • This man’s wife lost her engagement ring down a vent, and he used a tape measure, flashlight, webcam, and tape to find and retrieve it.  Sidenote: Until today, I always thought it was “tape measurer” instead of “tape measure”.
  • The Big Business of Selling Your Old Clothes
  • The Dragon Autopsy – What it’s like to watch a komodo dragon get dissected – I think they meant to use the term “necropsy” instead of “autopsy“.  The first time I heard the term “necropsy” was in an ESPN special about the race horse Secretariat.
  • Buzzfeed – Can You Actually Get Through Disneyland In 24 Hours?
  • Buzzfeed – This Is What Happened When I Didn’t Look In A Mirror For A Week
  • Today’s dose of TEXAS! – Texas loves breakfast tacos 4,000 percent more than rest of nation
  • Why Do Former High-School Athletes Make More Money? – Research hasn’t yet borne out whether sports breed go-getters or whether they attract kids with a knack for navigating the professional world.
Posted in Personal | 7 Comments

Bag of Randomness for Thursday, March 28, 2015

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  • While watching that slow speed chase end with the SWAT vehicle using the PIT maneuver yesterday, I was left wondering who pays for the damage to the SWAT mobile.  I’m sure the taxpayer is stuck with the bill if the driver has no insurance, but if he happened to have insurance, I’m guessing his insurance company would pay for the damage.
  • Because of that slow speed chase, it was the first time in a very long team the local news didn’t lead with a weather related story.
  • There’s been a lot of talk as of late with the police having militarized weapons and supplies.  I have no problem with large cities having the SWAT vehicle we saw yesterday.
  • Things I learned about our local landfill from this article – (1.) It’s wholly located in the city limits of Lewisville but is owned by Flower Mound. (2) It was originally owned by Highland Park.
  • WifeGeeding did a real sweet thing yesterday.  We were in the checkout line at Wal-Mart when a mother of three came up short on cash for her groceries.  Being the lovely woman she is, WifeGeeding purchased the remaining groceries for her.
  •  40 Ways The World Makes Awesome Hot Dogs
  • I’ve watched a few episodes of ‘Daredevil’ on Netflix and so far I like it, but it seems a bit slow as if they are working on a character development and a good plotline.  Rosario Dawson is part of the cast, at one time she attended high school in Garland.  The fight scenes are pretty impressive.
  • My family in Vietnam got word of all the flooding in Texas and called to make sure we were safe.  Those conversations are always touching because their English is poor, but love in the sound of their voices make up for it.
  • I’m still trying to adjust me new evening routine, and I know it will only get worst.  For the longest time, I’ll watch Stewart and then Letterman.  Now I can only watch Stewart, and that won’t last much longer.
  • Pop-culture items I’ve strongly committed at least a decade to – David Letterman, Jon Stewart, U2, ‘The Simpsons’, ‘SNL’
  • Cute and nicely worded GIF – She better have bought it
  • Buzzfeed – Students Gave All Their Senior Trip Money To Their Principal For Cancer Treatment
  • Babe Laufenberg is no longer the sports director at CBS11, but he’s now writing for The Dallas Morning News.
  • Gillian Anderson’s about to reopen ‘The X-Files,’ and she knows it won’t be easy
  • Here’s another blog post, which goes into great detail about the split with The Village Church and the woman who is being placed under formal church discipline, despite resigning her membership before the discipline which they didn’t acknowledge, over her annulment from her husband after she found his child pornography materials.  It’s worth noting that blog post is supportive of the woman and any possible victims of child molestation.  Actually, that blog post was referenced in something I previously posted, but I just took the time to read it and discovered one of my college pastors is heavily referenced.  I was quite surprised to see that the former husband is still a licensed therapist and hasn’t been submitted to any formal discipline and the access he had to children from all across the country from where he lived.  There are a lot of things about this particular incident in which I’m still sorting out in my head when it comes to church doctrine and personal safety for the woman, as well as legal implementations, but I do feel the moment she formally resigned and left the church, they should have let her peacefully go on her way, the continued contact is harassment.
Posted in Personal | 5 Comments